Once again we’re twisting in the wind

At a virtual press conference on Jan. 12, Operation Warp Speed officials made an announcement that cheered U.S. governors.

The federal government had been holding back millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to ensure sufficient second doses for the people innoculated in the initial rollout. Now, officials said, the entire reserve would be released to states.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar urged states to expand eligibility for the vaccine to people over 65 and those of any age with a condition that makes them vulnerable to COVID-19.

It was good news. But, it was too good to be true.

State officials justifiably expected this announcement would presage a larger shipment of COVID-19 doses. But they were soon disappointed. As The Washington Post reported Friday, there is no storehouse of vaccines to release and officials knew that on Tuesday. What they apparently meant was that the federal government wouldn’t hold back any future doses. But that was not clear from the press conference, or from what state officials were told.

States expanded eligibility to people over 65, as Azar suggested. Word went out quickly and doctors’ office and clinics were flooded with calls from people seeking appointments to receive shots that don’t exist.

And who will take the blame for the federal government’s broken promise? It probably won’t be the soon-to-be-departed Operation Warp Speed team or the Trump White House, which again has left states twisting in the wind on the COVID-19 pandemic.